After the tragedy at Newtown, New York had one of the quickest legislative responses in the country. A month later, the state Senate and Assembly had voted to expand the state's definition of assault weapons, banning military-style upgrades on semi-automatic rifles and certain features on handguns, while limiting the number of bullets that are legal to load in a magazine. The NRA wasn't happy (duh), and neither was the organization Guns Across America, which rallied at the New York state capitol this past weekend. But there's another group of people that are none too pleased about New York's strengthened gun laws, and because of them, it's willing to leave the state.

Yes, you read that correctly and, yes, it looks like it could happen. "The man who leaked the world" has Hollywood up in arms and it's not because there is a Cablegate in the works for Tinsel Town. Let's not get our hopes up.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, big studio executives are dueling it out for the rights to a biopic about the life of WikiLeaks architect, Julian Assange. You name 'em, they have a bid: Universal Pictures, Time Warner, DreamWorks Studios, etc.; everyone is vying for a slice of what could be a hack-fest blockbuster.

And for good reason: from the biggest leak of confidential files in history to his pending case in Sweden, Assange's life has played out like a Jason Bourne novel. It's no wonder why Hollywood wants to pour millions into an actual real-life spy story. No need for "Based on a true story..." when you have the history books for reference.

Except one thing is holding them back: the story of Julian Assange's life is far from over. And what good is a movie without an ending?

Unless you've been living in a box, you're aware that the Oscars are tonight. While we won't be live-blogging the event like we did last year [Update: If you were reading Runnin' Scared this evening, you were probably aware that we were mistaken and we did have live coverage], we do have some hopes and anticipations for tonight's ceremony. So get in your gown (you do have one, don't you?), sit down in front of your laptop and read on as we prepare you for your viewing experience, or the experience you will have tomorrow when you try to catch up via blogs and YouTube.

Far away, in a place known to some as "La-La Land," the region's princes and princesses are preparing for a big magical celebration. Yeah, no. It's just that the Golden Globes are happening tonight in Los Angeles. Will you watch? Will you not watch now that you know that Ryan Gosling will not be attending? Will you still watch because even if Ryan's not going to be there he's still nominated, along with Michael Fassbender? Well, if you do decide to tune in, here's a what you should do to prepare.

Nick Carr explores a modern-day conundrum in his recent piece in the Wall Street Journal, "Our Typecast Metropolis." You see, Hollywood considers New York City a sort of permanently 70s-era New York City, full of twists and dark turns and grit and danger and grime. Unfortunately, today's New York City is more full of Starbucks, Duane Reades, and Applebees than it is of gritty alleyways. Thus, hard-working Hollywood types have had to search far and wide for alleys gritty enough to resemble the "New York City" ideal. They found one -- Franklin Place in TriBeCa, portrayed in such diverse cinematic experiences as The Nanny Diaries, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and The Talented Mr. Ripley. But, alas, that alleyway is being gentrified, to be turned into a luxury condo tower. Make a movie about that, Hollywood.

​I did not realize the extent to which Tom Aldredge was a hero of mine till the news of his death on Friday, July 22, of lymphoma, at age 83, made me look back on his half century of performances, Off-Broadway and on, which brought me several important realizations: I realize that, despite the wide range of roles he played, I never saw Tom Aldredge give a bad performance, or one in which he seemed miscast.

And though he was always instantly recognizable onstage, he never seemed to be playing himself, or just supplying business as usual. Each role was carefully crafted and fully inhabited for its own sake.

Monday marks a long-awaited moment in New York City history: The start of Smurfs Week. Yes. City officials announced it yesterday, and it is so. The Smurfs are taking on the "ambassadorial role" once held by Sesame Street characters and Dora the Explorer! The ostensible purpose of this marketing effort, or whatever you want to call it, which involves a Smurfs village near Columbus Circle, as well as Smurfs Week events in the Bronx and Brooklyn (but sadly lacking in Queens and Staten Island), is to entice more families to experience New York City. New York City is apparently using money to do all of these Smurfy things from Sony, whose The Smurfs premieres on Sunday. How fortuitious! Unfortunately, none of the actual Smurfs will actually be visiting, and already busy New Yorkers are now plagued with the challenge of having to explain to people why our city needs the addition of small blue creatures to make it compelling. On the up side, getting to punch anyone who says "Smurfy." [NYT]

"Moon River" by the river? Maybe not. An online petition is asking people to boycott the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy's August 11 Syfy Movies With A View showing of the 1961 classic Breakfast at Tiffany's, the Brooklyn Paper reports. Calling the film "horribly offensive" in the petition, an Asian-American group points to Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi, Holly Golightly's screaming, squinting landlord, who pronounces his Ls as Rs.